Longtime Hollywood agent Ari Emanuel has launched MARI, his events and experiences company after it closed its acquisitions of IMG’s portfolio of international tennis events and art organization Frieze along with a majority ownership interest in Barrett-Jackson, a premium collector car auction and automotive lifestyle brand.
Emanuel, founder and principal investor of MARI, remains chairman of WME Group (which went private earlier this year in a deal with Silver Lake) and CEO of TKO Group, the parent company of WWE and UFC.
MARI’s tennis portfolio includes two premier ATP Masters 1000 and WTA 1000 tournaments — the Miami Open presented by Itaú and Mutua Madrid Open — alongside WTA events such as the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open, Mubadala Citi DC Open, and SP Open. It also features exhibitions such as Giorgio Armani Tennis Classic and MGM Macau Tennis Masters, as well as the management of major ATP tournaments including the Chengdu Open, Hong Kong Open, Japan Open and Rio Open.
As part of the Miami Open acquisition, MARI is bringing on the ownership group behind the Miami Dolphins, Hard Rock Stadium, and the Formula 1 Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix, as principal investors. The group includes majority owner Stephen Ross, along with Joe Tsai, Oliver Weisberg, and funds managed by Ares Management. Since 2019, the Miami Open has been hosted at Hard Rock Stadium.
Emanuel previously disclosed his acquisition of Frieze from Endeavor Group Holdings. Predecessor company WME-IMG had acquired the art fair, magazine and digital media outfit in 2016. According to MARI, Barrett-Jackson founder and CEO Craig Jackson will remain in his role.
With MARI, Emanuel is teaming with longtime Endeavor and TKO exec Mark Shapiro — who also is a principal investor and will serve as a board member — to lead its strategy and growth. MARI’s executive team includes Matt Cohn as managing partner and Ben Enowitz as CFO.
In addition to Emanuel and Shapiro, MARI’s investors include funds managed by Apollo, RedBird Capital Partners, Qatar Investment Authority, HSG, IMI media group and Ares Management. Others include Los Angeles Times owners Patrick Soon-Shiong, a16z Growth, Nancy Zhang, FORTA Advisors, Main Street Advisors, Causeway Media Partners, Gannet Capital, Eric Schmidt, FMZ Ventures, Sideline Group, Curated Wealth Partners, Gaurav Kapadia, Bulat Utemuratov, and Sanjay Govil, as well as athletes including Luka Dončić, Anthony Edwards and Sabrina Ionescu.
“Live events and experiences have never been more powerful,” Emanuel said in a statement. “As people increasingly value experiences over things — and as hybrid work and AI give us more time to enjoy them—sports, art, lifestyle, and entertainment are becoming even more essential. At MARI, we’re building on the global impact of Frieze and the success of the Madrid and Miami Opens to create new ways for audiences to come together and share their passions.”
“RedBird has enjoyed a multi-decade partnership with Ari and Mark, and we are excited to join them again in creating MARI,” said Gerry Cardinale, founder and managing partner of RedBird Capital, in a statement. “Anchored by the iconic Miami and Madrid Tennis Opens and Frieze, MARI is well positioned from inception to capitalize on the secular growth and convergence of premium intellectual property across sports and live event Entertainment — areas where RedBird brings domain leadership and business building expertise.”
Apollo partner Rob Givone added, “We are excited to be a key partner to Ariel Emanuel, Mark Shapiro, and their team as they build out a portfolio of experiential assets in the sports and live events industries—two key areas where our firm sees strong, continued growth. Apollo Sports Capital will work closely with the MARI team to help unlock value across the existing asset base, as well as explore additional opportunities in live events and experiences.”
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld acted as legal adviser and Goldman Sachs & Co. and LionTree Advisors acted as financial advisors to MARI in connection with the transactions.